In The Morning
by XrystalPond
Summary: What happens when Brady learns of a secret from Chloe's past. Will he have the strength to help her?
1. Default Chapter

In the Morning…  
  
I disclaim…this is just for fun. I have a toddler, a baby, a husband and am about to have to pay back my student loans. So if you want to sue me be prepared to know that is all I have. (  
  
Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Chloe closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the velvety headrest. Nancy's incessant chatter filled the air but all that Chloe could hear were Brady's words to her. They reverberated off of her memory cells, calling out to her and chastising her for her stupid mistakes.  
  
Brady Black had finally had enough. Enough of her stalling and her excuses. Enough of her taking Phillip back without a second thought. To be honest he was not the only one. She saw the looks that people gave her, Nancy included. Those mixed looks of uneasiness, bewilderment and pity. It wasn't that Chloe expected people to be happy for her and Phillip. She could not even say that she was happy. Maybe the only happy one in all this was Phillip.  
  
Chloe began to think about her last visit with Brady. She snuck out of her bedroom and ran the few blocks over to his new/old loft after word had came that there could be no make-up for the masters class audition she had missed. It felt so comforting to go there but at the same time it caused her to confront what scared her most…the raw and unshielded emotions that Brady brought out in her. She came there for reassurance and for solace. However, when Phillip had called her cell phone in the middle of their conversation, Brady's demeanor changed. He had told her that he could not watch the roller coaster that was Phillip and Chloe's relationship without being nauseous himself. It was too much to ask of any friend and he called her on it to make a decision. When she could not vocalize her thoughts he drove her home and unceremoniously dropped her off leaving her to ponder her future without Julliard and without her best friend.  
  
The irony was that Chloe had not spoken to Phillip since that night. She blocked his calls and made excuses to get away from him at school, including a few well timed faked nausea attacks in Mr. Wood's class. She heard Phillip's whining voice in the hallways and went the other direction, leaving him and Belle to ponder the best apartments in Manhatten. She shifted her focus to Shawn and figuring out what had happened with him and Jan. She figured that maybe happiness was contagious and if Belle became happy she would too.  
  
However, without Brady or the prospect of Julliard, Chloe just felt lost. She was two weeks behind in history and math. Mr. Woods had threatened to call the Wesley's if she did not hand in her term paper by Monday. While she new she needed to focus, she just could not get the strength to do it.  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

In the Morning…  
  
I disclaim…this is just for fun. I have a toddler, a baby, a husband and am about to have to pay back my student loans. So if you want to sue me be prepared to know that is all I have. (  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Chloe glanced at her answering machine before retreating to her bed. Even though Craig and Dr. Murphy had been encouraged by her latest test results, sometimes it was all that she could do to make it to the shower in the morning without wanting to curl up in a ball and go back to bed. There was one message, with hesitation Chloe's hand brushed against the plastic button allowing the message to flow into the room. She held her breath and prayed that it was not Phillip. Instead it was Belle's forced chipper voice inviting her to go to the lake along with Mimi.  
  
Chloe slipped into a nightshirt that was worn but comfortable and reclined on the bed to read a little more of Hamlet. Her eyelids were becoming heavy on the second page as she drifted into a fitful sleep.  
  
  
  
Belle was standing in front of her closet pulling out clothing and separating it into three cluttered but distinct piles. As heavy footsteps emerged from the hallway, Belle turned with a huge smile on her face. "Brady!"  
  
"Hey Tink," Brady smirked as he deftly jumped over a pile to lounge on the one clear spot on her bed. "Don't tell me you can't figure out what to wear."  
  
"I'm not that bad," she grinned. "Mom said the only way I could have the credit card to go clothes shopping was if I gave away part of my clothes to charity. So I am trying to decide what to get rid of."  
  
"Oh I see, nothing like a little forced good deed."  
  
"I'm good," Belle said turning back to her closet. "I just am practical too. I mean I don't remember buying a leopard print skirt but I might need it someday."  
  
"That's right you never know when you might have to camouflage yourself to look like you belong in the jungle."  
  
"Ha ha ha, you are just such a riot," she muttered throwing a show at her brother, which he caught. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be doing housework or cleaning that loft of yours?"  
  
"Oh I am leaving it all for you, Tink," Brady grinned at the perplexed look on his sister's face as she pulled out a paisley shirt and muttered something about not even being born in the seventies.  
  
"Fat chance big brother. Why don't you just hire a maid?"  
  
"Well I would if I could, but Dad would have to give me a raise first."  
  
Belle dredged up one gold shoe and looked at it longingly. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"  
  
"Dad invited me to dinner. Something about family bonding or some crap."  
  
"Sounds fun as long as mom doesn't cook."  
  
Brady jumped up to assist his sister as a mountain of sweaters teetered dangerously close to the edge of the shelf and threatened to engulf her in angora. "Well he didn't say anything about bonding at the emergency room so I would bet we are going out to eat or at least having take out."  
  
  
  
Chloe woke up to the muffled sounds of Nancy and Craig outside her door. It sounded like a deep discussion on the crisis in the Middle East or the current state of the economy. However, it was not quite that important. Instead they were discussing dinner plans. Chloe groaned realizing that she had agreed earlier to go out to the pub with them. Dragging herself up she looked for the most comfy outfit she could find. Anything would do at this point was her motto…she didn't care if it matched.  
  
She knew she had to hurry and make it out in the hall before Nancy intruded the sanctity of her room with one of her, "Sweetie's."  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter was not really planned or thought out very well…but here it goes. I was listening to a CD that a friend sent me and this song reminded me of the old Brady. You know the scary but very hot young man that first came to Salem. I had to use it in my story.  
  
In the Morning…  
  
I disclaim…this is just for fun. I have a toddler, a baby, a husband and am about to have to pay back my student loans. So if you want to sue me be prepared to know that is all I have. (  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Brady rounded the corner a little too fast making the wheels on his jeep screech in protest. The radio was blaring and he was happy for the solitude afforded him by taking a separate vehicle than his dad, step-mom and sister. After a multitude of commercials a song came on that dug and tore at the wounds still fresh in his heart.  
  
1 To see you again  
  
To swallow the fire  
  
And welcome the end  
  
   
  
To feel you again  
  
To feel your arms around me  
  
The smile of a friend  
  
   
  
To touch you again  
  
To touch you slowly  
  
I'd welcome the poison in  
  
   
  
I'm confident  
  
There's no way you can explain away  
  
My pain, my pain, my pain!  
  
   
  
(Feels the same even though I'm older)  
  
   
  
And now I cuss your face  
  
I curse your memory  
  
I place the blame  
  
   
  
To play this game  
  
To play your fool  
  
To hear your name  
  
It feels the same even though I'm older  
  
Still got pain even though I'm older  
  
   
  
And there's no way you can explain away  
  
My pain, my pain!  
  
Feel it!  
  
   
  
(Feels the same even though I'm older)  
  
   
  
Now you've set me free  
  
I said it's lonely to be  
  
Lonely to be me now  
  
   
  
Now you've set me free  
  
I said it's lonely to be  
  
Lonely to be me now  
  
   
  
Now I've still got my pain  
  
And it feels the same  
  
And I just wanted you to know  
  
   
  
(Feels the same even though I'm older)  
  
   
  
Feel my pain  
  
I don't want this  
  
I don't need this  
  
Being forever torn apart!  
  
Put a target on your heart  
  
And play a larger part in this  
  
My pain  
  
He laughed as he sang along with the loud music. It felt good to let some of the steam out. He still couldn't believe that his plan had backfired. He was just trying to get Chloe to admit that she did not want to talk to Phillip. It wasn't as though he was demanding a declaration of love from her. Quite the contrary, he just wanted the truth. Unfortunately he got it. She wanted to be with Phillip. She wanted to play childish games and maybe all she wanted was attention. That suited him just fine. He could get along better without her as a distraction.  
  
Except he was not getting along any better. He passed the pub twice trying to convince himself that he was better off alone. Finally he swerved into a parking place, swearing as he narrowly missed clipping the tail end of a blue sedan with an oblivious red head driving.  
  
Song Credit – Jay Memory and Bubba Dean - Pain 


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe let out an exasperated sigh as Nancy and Craig went on and on about reckless drivers and their effects on higher insurance costs. Frankly it bored her and she was not in the mood to worry about it. She unsnapped the safety belt and marched into the pub as if on the way to her own execution. She stood perfectly still as Craig and Nancy bounded into the restaurant. Her head did not turn from the straight-ahead position it was in. She only let her eyes drop as she felt him notice her. At a booth in the center of the pub sat John, Marlena, Brady and Belle. Brady's back had been to her when she first entered but he noticed the way Belle stopped talking mid- sentence and held her glass of water in the air poised to take a drink. Shawn saved the moment for Belle. He emerged from the kitchen area of the pub just in time to grab Belle's glass before she spilled.  
  
After 30 seconds Chloe could feel her knees weakening from standing so still. She hated this feeling. There was nothing on earth that she would rather do than run to Brady and envelop him in a gigantic hug. Common sense stopped her. She knew that if she approached him and he rejected her that she would literally die. She could not face it if he truly was over her completely. Nancy placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder and led her silently to a corner booth. Craig muttered under his voice, "Well here we go."  
  
As Chloe sat at the Wesley's booth trying not to look Brady, Craig laughed inwardly at the display for him. Chloe held the menu in front of her and averted her eyes should anyone dare to look at her. He wondered just who she thought she was fooling. Brady was not having any easier of a time. He didn't have the luxury of a menu to hide behind; instead he thumbed at the brightly colored table tent advertising the latest drink concoctions that the senior Shawn Brady had invented. His eyes seemed dark and distant like when he had first arrived in Salem. The only time that Craig saw them brighten was when Belle caught his attention.  
  
John saw the same scene playing out before him. He could only hope that Belle's little plan worked out the way she had planned. Noticing that she now held her tiny pink covered cell phone under the table, he new that phase one of the plan was in motion. He only hoped that Nancy Wesley had been able to get into Chloe's purse as they had discussed.  
  
Marlena's pager interrupted the conversation at the table. Not that it had been that interesting to Brady. In one swift motion she handed Brady her credit card and asked him to pay the check, saying that there was an emergency at the hospital. Before Brady could even protest his father and step-mother bolted out the door, reminding Belle of her curfew. Belle smiled at her brother while making an excuse for her and Shawn to abruptly leave. Brady heard something about movie and double feature but it didn't register with him completely until Belle's tiny form was dragging Shawn out the door into the now rainy night.  
  
While he was waiting on the check, a sharp and piercing beep startled him. He watched as Craig and Nancy stared amazed at the tiny pager and made hurried apologies to a stunned Chloe. Maybe if he had not spent the past couple of nights dreaming of Chloe and waking up to chastise himself, he would have realized the irony of it all. Instead he watched as Craig hurried his wife out of the resturant and into a driving rain that was keeping most customers away. Slowly he turned his head and saw the same baffled expression he was wearing on Chloe's face. There was no longer a buffer zone between them. Only the span of a few feet separated them, but who would make the first move. 


End file.
